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UN News/Pauline Batista

US suffering ‘selective amnesia’ on issues of racism and xenophobia: Human rights expert

The UN-appointed independent human rights expert on racism and xenophobia said on Tuesday that the United States is suffering a form of “selective amnesia” when it comes to “enduring systemic racism”.

Special Rapporteur Ashwini K.P. has just finished a 14-day fact finding mission across the US where she had conversations with marginalized groups from Black, Brown, and Latino communities and lawmakers, among others. 

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9'25"
© UNHCR/Selim Meddeb Hamrouni

Sudan conflict: First victims are children, says senior UNHCR worker

The heavy fighting that erupted in Sudan on 15 April has forced more than six million people from their homes and created a humanitarian catastrophe that the world must not continue to ignore.

That’s the urgent message from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR’s) Dominique Hyde, who’s just back from White Nile state, where she witnessed the deadly impact of months of conflict on the country’s most vulnerable people, who are now sheltering in hundreds of displacement camps.

Here she is now, speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson.

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8'19"
United Nations

UN’s top court, a source of ‘authoritative’ advice

Thursday saw five new judges elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at UN Headquarters in New York, a reminder of its central role as the principal judicial organ for the world body. In addition to disputes brought before the “world court”, intergovernmental bodies can also submit petitions seeking advice on key issues.
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UN News/Khaled Mohamed

Delivering aid to pregnant women in Gaza an ‘impossible equation’

Some 50,000 pregnant women are among the 2.2 million people in besieged Gaza, and 5,500 are due to give birth in the coming weeks, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has reported.

As the conflict between Israel and Hamas enters a second month, UNFPA is working round the clock to provide support to pregnant women and hospitals, which face a lack of electricity, water, medicines, supplies and personnel.

Laila Baker, UNFPA Regional Director for the Arab States, said a humanitarian ceasefire is needed now to allow aid in and to protect both civilians and aid workers.

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10'52"
UNESCO

AI: Film industry facing biggest upheaval in its history

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers a wide range of solutions from pre to post-production across the film industry but it also represents the most seismic shift in its history, one senior academic tells us.

So-called generative AI is causing anxiety among technicians, actors and creators, warns Rizwan Ahmed, Director of the Media Centre at MANUU, in Hyderabad, India.

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11'19"
UN News video

WHO condemns targeting of ambulance convoy in Gaza

The World Health Organization (WHO) has condemned the reported Israeli airstrike which hit a convoy of ambulances near the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Friday. 

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social platform X that he was “utterly shocked” by the reports, and in an interview with UN News, the agency’s Regional Director Dr. Ahmed Al Mandhari, condemned “such acts of hostility”.

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Unsplash/Engin Akyurt

Attacks on journalists covering elections ‘a very scary trend’: UNESCO

With more than 80 countries set to hold elections next year, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is urging governments to ensure that journalists are protected throughout the entire period leading up to the vote.

UNESCO data reveals that journalists have been attacked, and some even killed, while providing coverage throughout the electoral cycle. Recent years have seen some 759 attacks, and five deaths.

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